Foster Care Holiday Party a success

The room is huge, well lit, noisy and warm despite the freezing temperature outside. There are well over 300 people at any given time sitting, eating, playing games, making crafts; the majority of these people are children. This is a very exclusive event. It is by invitation only. Some travel miles and miles to attend. In order to gain admittance, you have to be part of a foster family.

The annual Foster Care Holiday Party celebrates its 19th year of honoring children and their foster families. Each year, families are hosted to an event including: photos with Santa, face painting, penny tosses, inflatable bounce houses and slides, gingerbread house raffles, cupcake walks, crafts including beadwork, painting with glitter and building wooden boats and much more. This year's meal was full plate of delicious Mexican food with hotdogs and nachos in reserve for the discriminating eaters.

The reason for the party is simple. The holiday season can be a difficult time for families in general; for a foster child it can be particularly difficult.

The holidays can, however, be a great time of bonding for foster families, a time to share old memories and make new ones. Mendocino County gives its foster families a tremendous opportunity to create new holiday memories for the entire family. Foster children mix with their birth and foster siblings, playing games, winning prizes and erasing all distinction to the casual observer. Each family is special and uniquely blended, and our community has collectively declared that they wish to celebrate not only the children, but also the family's committed to serving children from our community.

One parent said, "We are having a great time. Our family has been coming for 6 years now since K. was about 5. The best thing about this party, as a parent, is that you can meet other parents. That was really helpful when we first started coming. Plus," he said pointing to a group of children, "they are having a blast!"

Our local elected officials Supervisor John McCowen, Supervisor Carrie Brown and Juvenile Court Judge David Nelson attended and supported the children in having a great time.

Holiday parties for foster care children are not as common as one might think. It is a credit to the community of Mendocino County that the event is able to continue. The financial contributions come from the Family Center Children's Trust Fund, Redwood Children's Services, TLC Child and Family Services, CASA of Mendocino County and numerous community partners. This support, combined with the man hours of the Health and Human Services Agency's Family and Children's Services, Redwood Children's Services and TLC, make this idea a reality year after year.

The Family Center Children's Trust Fund is designed to hold contributions specifically for events and activities for foster children of Mendocino County. Individuals, small businesses and corporations donate to the fund which provides summer and winter events and activities for children in the care of the Health and Human Services Agency. These donations come from all over the county and from group efforts, such as car washes, silent auctions and even the Human Race. County employees, family members and friends began a new tradition of participating in the Human Race fundraising event with support from Supervisor McCowen to help raise money for the children.

At the Holiday Event, there are a host of other volunteers providing oversight, helping kids win prizes and serving heaping plates of food. Many of the volunteers came from the Health and Human Services Agency's Adult Services, Fiscal, Public Health, Eligibility, Staff Resources, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and Information Services, Redwood Children's Services and TLC; these workers donated personal time, money, materials and even technical equipment.

The delicious meal was prepared by the generous donation of hours and hard work from Ms. Sarah Hernandez and Ms. Belen Martinez. Contributions to the event were made by Al Azteca Restaurant, Ukiah Natural Foods, the Soroptimist Club of Ukiah, Mi Pueblito Restaurant, Pleasant View Dairy, Starbucks (Gobbi Street in Ukiah location), Forks Ranch Market, Family Fun Jumps, Stars Restaurant, Ukiah Grocery Outlet, Denny's Restaurant, Safeway and Elliott's Christmas Trees. Crafts were supplied by Home Depot with their Do-It-Yourself wooden boat project. Nori Scouras' Ukiah High School Art Students made magic with face paint. Volunteers collected art and game supplies throughout the year for the event, and gingerbread houses were made and decorated by the Ukiah Family Center and the Family and Children's Services employees.

If you are interested in helping the county continue this tradition, you may donate to the Children's Trust Fund. Donations to the Family Center Children's Trust Fund may be made at Children's Services, 727 S. State Street, Ukiah, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Donations may, also, be mailed to CFSOC, Family Center Children's Trust Fund at P.O. Box 839, Ukiah, CA 95482. Please remember that all donations are tax deductable and a letter of donation is available on request.

Kristina Grogan is the Communication Coordinator for the Health and Human Services Agency in Mendocino County. You can email her for comments or suggestions at grogank@co.mendocino.ca.us.